Columbia Cans 'Noose' Prof Over Plagiarism

Plagiarism allegation was 'cooked up,' lawyer says

(NEWSER) - The Columbia University professor fired for plagiarism shortly after a noose was found hanging on her office door is suing her former school for $200 million. Madonna Constantine’s reputation was ruined by the “baseless” allegation, her lawyer tells CNN. The black professor has previously charged that the noose incident is related and that she was “systematically targeted” by the Teachers College. More»

She calls school probe a racist conspiracy

(NEWSER) - The Columbia professor who made headlines when she found a noose on her office door has plagiarized from students and another professor, the school says. The university’s Teachers College found two dozen instances in which Madonna Constantine stole from other's works in articles published under her name. Constantine, who's been given an unspecified punishment, calls the charges “structural racism,” reports the New York Post. More»

School flip-flops on surveillance in hate-crime case

(NEWSER) - After holding out for more than a day, Columbia University will give New York police surveillance video that could yield clues on who left a noose on a professor's door, the New York Daily News reports. The school had told police—investigating what they're calling a hate crime against Professor Madonna Constantine—they would need a subpoena to get the tapes. More»

Black educator teaches class on racial justice

(NEWSER) - Columbia University erupted today after a noose was found hanging from the door of Madonna Constantine, a black professor who often writes about racism. The New York Police Department said it is investigating the incident as a hate crime. Columbia’s president called it “an attack on all of us,” and students vowed to wear black and rally. More»

Vanity Fair excerpts new biography

(NEWSER) - President Obama must be just thrilled his old girlfriends kept their letters. Vanity Fair today publishes an excerpt of Barack Obama: The Story, a biography written by Washington Post reporter David Mariniss. The excerpt focuses on the 20-something Obama's relationships with Alex McNear and, later, Genevieve Cook, when he studied at Occidental College and then Columbia, notes CBS News . Some snippets:

• Obama letter to McNear: "Remember how I said there's a certain kind of conservatism which I respect more than bourgeois liberalism—(TS) Eliot is of this type. Of course, the dichotomy he maintains is reactionary, but it’s due to a deep fatalism, not ignorance.” ( Daily Intel has some fun with this one.)
• Another from Obama to McNear: "Caught without a class, a structure, or tradition to support me, in a sense the choice to take a different path is made for me. The only way to assuage my feelings of isolation are to absorb all the traditions [and] classes; make them mine, me theirs."